Dong Bang Shin Ki

Actor and singer Rain was asked for an interview with the weekly U.S. journal "TIME," according to J. Tune Entertainment.

Every
year, "TIME" magazine presents a select list of "100 of the World’s
Most Influential People" and currently, Rain has surpassed Britney
Spears on the online voting site, "2008 Time 100." The request for an
interview comes from the "TIME" video web coverage segment, "10
Questions."

This is the third consecutive year that Rain
has been linked to "TIME." The Hallyu star was chosen for the "TIME
100" list in 2006 and walked the red carpet with powerful figures such
as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and movie mogul Jerry
Bruckheimer.

In 2007, he was ranked number one on the
online voting system set up for the "TIME 100" and introduced to "TIME"
readers as "Asia’s Prince of Pop." Once again he is ranked first on the
online poll this year along with an interview that can be viewed by a
global audience.

The "TIME" editor-in-chief will select
ten questions from the countless number sent in to the website
(http://www.time.com/10questions) by netizens all over the world.

Shinhwa member Andy (Lee Sun-ho, 27) will be holding his first solo concert in China.

Last
month, Shinhwa wrapped up their ten-year anniversary tour but Andy will
continue as a solo act with a performance in Shanghai on the 18th and
19th of this month. The concert is entitled "Andy the 1st Proposal in
Shanghai."

Andy’s management agency, TOP Media, explained
that the sponsors in China saw Andy’s promotion for his solo debut
album at a small theater and they were "very excited to have Andy as
the first member of Shinhwa to hold a solo concert."

Andy
was also very excited at the thought and announced, "I hope audiences
there will join me in singing ‘New Dream,’ a song which Chinese fans
composed and wrote."

After the concert in China, Andy will also be performing solo in Japan.

Super Junior-M is ready to make its debut in China.

The
group, which was tentatively named "Super Junior China" is a vocal
group made up of Korean and Chinese members. The group was formed to
specifically target the Chinese-speaking markets.

The
seven-member group consists of Han-kyung, the Chinese member of Super
Junior, Si-won, Dong-hae, Ryeo-wook, Kyu-hyun and two more Chinese
members, Henry and Zhao Wei.

Super Junior-M’s first album
"Me" will be released in China in mid-April. It will also be released
in other Asian countries including Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. All of
the songs in the album are performed in Chinese. The album contains a
total of 12 songs. In addition to the five new songs, the album
includes the title song "U," "Don’t Don" and "Marry U." I

Prior
to their official debut, Super Junior-M unveiled a teaser video of all
seven members on http://www.sohu.com on April 3. More than one million
Internet users downloaded the video in just five days. The music video
of the group’s title song "U" was also unveiled to the public on April
8. On the same day, the group performed at an annual music awards
ceremony held in Beijing.

Popular idol group TVXQ will hold the "2nd Asia Tour Concert ‘O’ in Shanghai" on May 31.

TVXQ’s
management agency SM Entertainment said Monday that the upcoming
Shanghai concert will be the grand finale of its seven-nation tour
around Asia. It said the members are very excited as it will be their
first concert in China.

TVXQ held a press conference in
Shanghai on April 4 and left for Hiroshima to prepare for their tour
concert in Japan. The group will hold a total of 17 concerts in eight
cities in Japan.

Paran,
a five-member male vocal group which debuted in 2005, has made inroads
all across Asia, including China, Indonesia, Laos, Taiwan, Thailand,
Vietnam and Japan.

Members of Paran held a showcase
concert at the amphitheater of Rao Itecc, an exhibition center in
Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on April 5. It was the first concert by
a male foreign group to attract 10,000 audience members. The event will
be televised on Lao Star TV, the public broadcaster of Laos.

Laotian
fans, who frequently enjoy Thai TV shows, raved over Paran’s
performance, although they did not understand the Korean lyrics.

Fans frantically took photos of the group, waved photographs of the members in the air, screamed and blew kisses to the stage.

Paran
returned to Korea and April 7. Soon after their arrival, members of the
group wrapped up recording their third studio album, which is slated
for release on April 11. The album will be released simultaneously in
six Asian countries.

The members recently said they plan to sweep their Korean fans off their feet with their new album.

Actor
Bae Yong-joon will attend a special press event to promote the history
drama "Taewangsashingi" or "The Story of the First King’s Four Gods" in
Japan on June 1.

Bae’s management agency BOF said the
"Taewangsashingi Premium Event 2008" will be held to mark the broadcast
of the history drama series which will begin on April 5 on NHK TV. The
event will be held at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan.

BOF
said Lee Jiah and producer Kim Jong-hak will also attend the event with
Bae and meet some 35,000 Japanese fans. The agency said details of the
upcoming event will be posted on http://www.yongjoon/jp/premiumevent.

"Taewangsashingi,"
starring Bae and Lee, was broadcast on MBC TV in September, 2007 and
became a huge hit, recording a 30% viewer rate. The series was first
introduced to Japan on NHK TV in November of the same year and went on
to be screened in ten theaters nationwide in Japan.

Actor
and singer Rain will begin a world tour for the promotion of the
simultaneous international release of Hollywood’s "Speed Racer" on May
8th.

According to Warner Brothers Korea, Rain starts his
promotional tour in Korea on the 20th, then Hong Kong on the 23rd and
onto Los Angeles, California, where he will join producer Joel Silver,
actors Emile Hirsch and Matthew Fox for the premiere. Rain is also
scheduled for a Japan appearance in June.

"Hollywood
actors are promoting the movie on various talk shows [in the United
States] but in Asia, no one is as popular as Rain so we are expecting a
great response from his promotions of the film here," announced a
representative of Warner Brothers.

At 300 million dollars
(USD) for its production and 80 million in marketing costs, "Speed
Racer" is a hefty blockbuster about the best racers around the world
battling in cars equipped with cutting-edge technology.

Last
Tuesday, Variety Magazine printed that "Speed Racer" was chosen as the
closing film for the 7th Tribeca Film Festival in New York City
(4/23-5/4).

Shinhwa
member Jun Jin will hold his first solo concert in Japan, the same year
Shinhwa reaches the 10-year anniversary of their debut.

Jun
Jin has planned two performances on the 26th (2pm, 7pm) at the C.C.
Lemon Hall in Tokyo for 5000 fans. There was only one show originally
scheduled but when the 2500 tickets sold out in five minutes, they
decided to add another performance.

Since this is Jun
Jin’s first solo concert in Japan, he sought out director Kim
Seo-ryong, one of the best in the field at stage productions for
concerts. They are also planning a pan-Asian tour during which the
singer’s first solo album will be released to coincide with his concert
in Korea.

Prior to his Tokyo concert, Jun Jin is
scheduled to meet fans for a two-day trip through Fukushima, Japan.
They will dine together, play group games, take commemorative photos,
and the singer will sign personal autographs.

And on May
7th, the cable TV network So-net–which is currently introducing Hallyu
dramas to its audiences–will begin broadcasting the SBS TV drama
"Let’s Go to the Beach" starring Jun Jin, Lee Wan, Lee Chung-ah and
Kang Jung-hwa.

Rising talent Oh Yeon-seo is the new face of KBS 2TV’s epic drama, "The Great King Sejong."

In
the TV drama, Oh plays "Eo-ri," the most beautiful woman in Chosun who
captures the heart of "Prince Yangnyeong" (Park Sang-min). Her strong
performance adds an exciting edge to the production.

The
young actress has also become a rising face in the advertising
industry. According to sources at her agency Star M Entertainment, Oh
has been cast in five commercials just this year alone, for Shinhan
Credit Card, Will Yoghurt and Hanbul Cosmetics, among others.

The addition of Oh and singer Lee Jung-hyun signal a turn of events in the epic tale of "The Great King Sejong."

Eo-ri
first approaches Yangnyeong in an attempt to seduce him to stir up the
royal family, but she falls in love with the prince’s frank,
open-hearted personality. When their scandalous love affair is
revealed, Yangnyeong’s title to the throne is threatened and Eo-ri is
heartbroken. She ends up taking her own life.